Gwalior, Jan 28 (PTI) Shambhavi Pathak, the co-pilot of the aircraft that crashed on Wednesday while carrying Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, had sent a rare “good morning” message to her grandmother in Gwalior before take-off, which turned out to be her last communication.
Besides Pawar, Captain Sumit Kapoor, co-pilot Shambhavi Pathak, flight attendant Pinky Mali, and Pawar’s Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav were killed when the Learjet 45 aircraft enroute to Baramati from Mumbai crashed near Baramati airport in Pune district.
Shambhavi was the daughter of retired Air Force pilot Vikram Pathak.
Speaking to PTI, Shambhavai’s grandmother, Meera Pathak, who lives in Vasant Vihar of Gwalior, said her 25-year-old granddaughter studied at Air Force Vidya Bharti School up to Class V during her father’s posting at the local Air Force Station.
After her father’s transfer, the family moved to Lodhi Colony in Delhi.
She added that Shambhavi had received commercial pilot training in New Zealand and frequently flew to various destinations, including Delhi, London, and Russia.
Meera Pathak said she was surprised to receive the “good morning” message, as Shambhavi did not send messages regularly.
She said that around 11 AM, her younger son called to inform her that Shambhavi was among the passengers on the plane that crashed and that Ajit Pawar had died.
Later, Shambhavi’s father and Meera Pathak’s elder son called to inform the family that they were travelling to Pune to receive the body.
Meera Pathak’s neighbour, Usha Uniyal, told PTI Videos that Shambhavi was very intelligent in her studies and playful by nature.
She said that whenever Shambhavi visited Gwalior, she never missed an opportunity to meet her grandmother.
Another neighbour said that Shambhavi had come to Gwalior on the death anniversary of her grandfather in 2024, and again on October 12, 2025.
According to Flight Radar, the aircraft took off from Mumbai at 8:10 AM and disappeared from radar around 8:45 AM. The aircraft crashed a minute later, police said.
Pawar was travelling from Mumbai to Baramati to address public meetings as part of the campaign for the Zilla Parishad elections to be held in the state on February 5. PTI COR BNS MAS NSK
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